19 moments

1. Birth in Liuhe

   1912-05-31 · Liuhe, Taicang, Jiangsu, China

   Wu was born in Liuhe, a town near Shanghai, beginning a life that would lead to major work in experimental nuclear and particle physics. Coordinates represent Liuhe town.

2. Boarding-school transfer in Suzhou

   1923-01-01 · Suzhou, Jiangsu, China

   At age eleven, Wu left home to attend the Soochow School for Girls, a boarding school in Suzhou. Coordinates represent Suzhou because the memoir does not give the school's street address.

3. Teaching year at Shanghai Gong Xue

   1929-01-01 · Shanghai, China

   After graduating from the Soochow School for Girls, Wu attended Shanghai Gong Xue for one year. Coordinates represent central Shanghai; the cited memoir does not identify the school's exact site.

4. Physics studies at National Central University

   1930-01-01 · National Central University, Nanjing, China

   

   Wu enrolled at National Central University in Nanjing, initially studying mathematics before changing to physics. Coordinates represent the Gulou campus area of present-day Nanjing University.

5. Arrival in San Francisco

   1936-01-01 · San Francisco, California, United States

   Wu arrived in San Francisco after crossing the Pacific and reconsidered her original plan to study at the University of Michigan. Coordinates represent San Francisco.

6. Graduate enrollment at Berkeley

   1936-01-01 · University of California, Berkeley, California, United States

   After visiting Berkeley, Wu remained there for doctoral study instead of continuing to Michigan. Coordinates represent the University of California, Berkeley campus.

7. Departure for the United States

   1936-08-01 · Huangpu Bund, Shanghai, China

   

   Wu departed China for graduate study in the United States aboard the SS President Hoover.

8. Doctorate at UC Berkeley

   1940-01-01 · University of California, Berkeley, California, United States

   Wu completed her PhD in physics at Berkeley, where her research included uranium-fission products and radioactive xenon isotopes. The National Park Service account identifies UC Berkeley immediately before this statement.

9. Teaching at Smith College

   1942-01-01 · Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts, United States

   After moving to the East Coast, Wu taught physics at Smith College in Northampton during the war years. The source dates the move and Smith appointment to 1942.

10. Faculty appointment at Princeton

    1943-01-01 · Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, United States

    Wu left Smith for Princeton University, becoming the first woman hired on its physics faculty. Coordinates represent Princeton University's main campus.

11. Manhattan Project work at Columbia

    1944-03-01 · Nash Building, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States

    Wu moved to New York to join Columbia University's Manhattan District Project as a senior scientist. Coordinates represent the former Nash Building area at West 133rd Street and Broadway, where Columbia's Manhattan Project work was conducted.

12. Parity experiment at the National Bureau of Standards

    1956-01-01 · National Bureau of Standards, Washington, D.C., United States

    

    Wu carried out the cobalt-60 parity experiment at the National Bureau of Standards, producing evidence that parity is not conserved in beta decay. The former Washington campus buildings no longer survive; coordinates represent Washington, D.C.

13. Travel to Israel with Wolfgang Pauli

    1957-01-01 · Israel

    Wu traveled by plane to Israel with physicist Wolfgang Pauli during the year following her parity experiment. The memoir identifies Israel but not a city; coordinates are a representative national point.

14. Conserved-vector-current experiment at Columbia

    1963-01-01 · Columbia University, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States

    

    Wu carried out a Columbia experiment with Luke Mo and students that confirmed weak magnetism and supported conserved-vector-current theory. Coordinates represent Columbia University's Morningside Heights campus.

15. Speech on gender discrimination at MIT

    1964-01-01 · Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

    Wu addressed gender discrimination at an MIT symposium, delivering a widely remembered question about whether scientific objects prefer masculine or feminine treatment. Coordinates represent MIT's Cambridge campus.

16. Family visit in Hong Kong

    1965-01-01 · Hong Kong

    Wu met her uncle Wu Zhou-Zhi and younger brother Wu Chien-Hao during a trip to Hong Kong. Coordinates represent central Hong Kong.

17. Return visit to China

    1973-01-01 · People's Republic of China

    After decades unable to return because of civil war and political restrictions, Wu visited China again. The cited account does not specify a city; coordinates are a representative national point.

18. Honorary doctorate at the University of Padua

    1984-01-01 · Palazzo Bo, University of Padua, Padua, Italy

    Wu received an honorary Sc.D. in the University of Padua's Galileo Galilei Aula Magna. Coordinates represent Palazzo Bo, including the Aula Magna.

19. Death at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center

    1997-02-16 · St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States

    Wu died in Manhattan after suffering a stroke and being taken by ambulance to St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center. The Columbia University Record reports that she died February 16 in Manhattan.